News archive

Maria Albin researches how the environments in which we work and live affect our health. She is particularly interested in issues relating to sustainability – what work content and employment conditions are needed for people to continue enjoying what they do.

To understand the interaction between virulent organisms and the immune system, we need to know what the proteins involved actually look like – that is, what three-dimensional structures they have. This is the objective of Adnane Achour’s research, his main objects of interest being the immune system’s T cells and the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae.

Mikael Karlsson, Professor of Immunology at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, researches the regulation of the immune system and why it sometimes becomes disrupted, leading to disease. He is particularly interested in B cells and macrophages. His research adds to knowledge of autoimmune diseases and is also related to cancer.

Tomas Jernberg researches differences between groups of heart attack patients and is particularly interested in those with reduced kidney function – a group that has a worse prognosis and that has been particularly neglected by science.

Anna Färnert is Professor of Infectious Medicine, especially Tropical Medicine at the Department of Medicine, Solna. Her research is about malaria, above all how the immune system’s response to the disease is affected by different factors. She has shown, for example, that immunity disappears much more quickly than previously thought and that repeated infections by different strains are important for the immune system to protect against the disease.

The idea that type 1 diabetes is caused by a virus is an old hypothesis that has recently been revived. Malin Flodström Tullberg is Professor of Type 1 Diabetes at the Department of Medicine, Huddinge and her research is about the link between enteroviruses and type 1 diabetes. She also hopes to be able to contribute to a new enterovirus vaccine.

Sophie Erhardt researches biological mechanisms behind mental illness. With her discovery that patients with schizophrenia have elevated levels of kynurenic acid in the brain, she has laid the foundations of a scientific field that has attracted a great many research groups around the world.

Annika Östman Wernerson researches molecular mechanisms causing different kidney diseases in the hope that the knowledge generated will lead to more effective diagnosis, care and treatment. She also researches the field of pedagogics, studying how students cope with and are affected by unpleasant experiences during their education.

Knut Lönnroth’s main line of research is the socioeconomic risk factors for tuberculosis and how the health services, especially in low and middle-income countries, can be designed to combat the disease more effectively. At KI, migration and health will also be an important theme of his research.

Many babies who are born very prematurely suffer some form of brain damage. Ulrika Ådén, Professor of Neonatology at the Department of Women's and Children's Health, researches how the risk of such damage can be mitigated, and how the damage caused can be alleviated. Her research includes the effects of different clinical interventions and the importance of vocal and tactile stimulation.

Per-Arne Lönnqvist’s research aims to improve anaesthesia care for children. He has helped to develop the use of ultrasound for improving the precision of local anaesthetic administration and has been a pioneer in the use of alpha-2 agonists in paediatric anaesthesia and intensive care.

Sonia Lain is searching for molecules that have the potential to become future cancer therapies and has selected from over 60,000 substances the most promising candidates. Once the molecular mechanisms have been identified, it will also be possible to see what other diseases the substances can be effective against.

Nagihan Bostanci builds three-dimensional model of gums in order to understand how mild gum inflammation can advance to periodontitis (tooth loss). She hopes that her research will help to bring about new, improved diagnostic and prognostic methods.

In the 1990s, Yoshinori Ohsumi described how our cells keep their house in order. Now that he has been awarded a Nobel Prize for his discoveries, the research field has exploded – cellular waste management has proved to be critical to cancer and many other diseases.

During his nearly 50 years at KI, Professor Ernberg has served as chairman and member of many decision-making and advisory boards and committees at the university. Senior Professor of Tumour Biology at the Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC), he has been awarded the Grand Silver Medal for his invaluable efforts to strengthen and develop the university’s operations.

The Grand Silver Medal 2016 from Karolinska Institutet is awarded to Anders Ekbom, Ingemar Ernberg, Agneta Nordberg, Bengt Norrving and Elisabeth Olsson in special recognition of the outstanding contributions they have made to medical research and Karolinska Institutet.